Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Brandon Friedman, has been tweeting that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may deserve “sympathy” because of the possibility that “his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership.”
If that were the case, he argues, “the soldiers in his platoon would have all the more reason to smear him publicly now.”
He continued to lament that “this story could not be more unbalanced–with so many premature calls of ‘traitor.'”
Friedman once served as the Vice Chairman of a hyper-partisan (although it describes itself as “non-partisan”) non-profit called VoteVets.org, which seeks to promote the elections of progressive veterans to public office. He was also the “Director of Online Communications at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.”
Friedman quotes Mao Tse-tung prominently on his blog,
“There are some militarists who say: ‘We are not interested in politics but only in the profession of arms.’ It is vital that these simple-minded militarists be made to realize the relationship that exists between politics and military affairs. Military action is a method used to attain a political goal. While military affairs and political affairs are not identical, it is impossible to isolate one from the other.” — Mao Tse-tung, On Guerrilla Warfare
Here are his tweets:
Here’s the thing about Bergdahl and the Jump-to-Conclusions mats: What if his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership? (1/5)
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 5, 2014
What if he grew disillusioned with what he saw, didn’t trust his leadership, and walked off? Legal? No. Worthy of sympathy? Maybe. (2/5)
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 5, 2014
If that were the case, the soldiers in his platoon would have all the more reason to smear him publicly now. (3/5)
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 5, 2014
Given other examples, it’s not out of the realm of possibility–and more reason to withhold judgment until after an investigation. (4/5)
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 5, 2014
I’m not a fan of such speculation, but this story could not be more unbalanced–with so many premature calls of “traitor.” (5/5)
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 5, 2014
What do you think? Is there a possibility that Bergdahl deserted his platoon because they were all psychopaths?
